Cancer Vaccines

There are two main types of cancer vaccines: antiviral vaccines, which prevent infection with known cancer-causing viruses, and therapeutic cancer vaccines, which fight cancer through several different formulations that are detailed further in this section.

Antiviral vaccines

Antiviral vaccines are traditional vaccines used to prevent infection with known cancer-causing, or oncogenic, viruses. Such oncogenic viruses include HPV , strains of which have been linked to the development of squamous cell carcinomas of the cervix, throat and anogenital area, and hepatitis B, a viral infection linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.

Therapeutic cancer vaccines

Therapeutic cancer vaccines comprise a wide range of formulations. Unlike antiviral vaccines, which are inoculated to work against cancer-causing viruses, therapeutic cancer vaccines employ the immune system to attack cancer cells that already exist in the body. The different types of therapeutic cancer vaccines include genetically modified tumor vaccines, antigen-specific vaccines and dendritic cell vaccines.

Genetically modified tumor vaccines use tumor cells that have been genetically engineered to amplify T cell–mediated immunity to induce an antitumor response. The tumor cells may be modified to express certain molecules or antigens to stimulate the immune system. Most of these vaccines are autologous, which means that the tumor cells are harvested from the patient and can only be used for the treatment of that patient.

Unlike genetically modified tumor vaccines, antigen-specific vaccines are created using one or more antigens (proteins or peptides) rather than entire tumor cells. Because these vaccines do not require the harvesting of tumor cells, they are not created for specific patients.

Dendritic cell vaccines, like genetically modified vaccines, are autologous; immune cells are harvested from a patient, and the harvested cells are cultured with specific cancer cells or antigens and enzymes, transforming them into dendritic cells. The dendritic cells are then injected back into the patient to induce an antitumor immune response.

Oncolytic viruses

Although not technically vaccines, oncolytic viruses are genetically modified viruses that target and kill cancer cells. In addition to targeting cancer cells specifically, these engineered viruses also can incite a general immune response, recruiting immune cells to attack the tumor.

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